LeBron James bullied Herbert Jones in the paint for a three point play on the first possession of the game, and James kept attacking until the New Orleans Pelicans waved the white flag of surrender: James scored a game-high 30 points on 9-12 field goal shooting while also dishing for a game-high eight assists, grabbing five rebounds, and taking three charges. James played just 23 minutes in the Lakers' 133-89 win, and if he had played 35 or 40 minutes he could have easily scored 50 points while leading the Lakers to an even more decisive victory. This is the first time in his long, storied career that James has scored at least 30 points in less than 25 minutes. Five other Lakers scored in double figures, led by Austin Reaves (17 points, seven assists) and Anthony Davis (16 points, game-high 15 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots, two steals).
Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 14 points. Zion Williamson specializes in thunderous dunks, but in this win or go home game his play was as quiet as a whisper: 13 points, three rebounds, two assists. Former All-Star Brandon Ingram had nine points and seven assists, and C.J. McCollum had nine points and two assists. Williamson, Ingram, and McCollum are touted as an All-Star trio, but in this game they barely outscored the 38 year old James. The Pelicans shot poorly from the field (.358), were outrebounded 59-42, and played defense with all of the intensity seen in a 35 and over recreational league game. After the game, TNT's Charles Barkley said that when an NBA team loses this badly it means that the team quit; that assessment is blunt, but fair.
Throughout James' 21 season career I have praised him when he played well--which he usually does--and I have criticized him when his effort and intensity were not up to par. It is not fair to dwell on the negative regarding a player as great as James is, but it is worth pointing out how I know that James quit versus Boston in the 2010 playoffs and versus Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals: he was in his prime during both of those series, but instead of attacking the paint on offense and playing relentlessly on defense he spent a lot of time drifting around the perimeter. In marked contrast, versus the Pelicans last night James attacked the hoop on the game's first possession and he kept attacking the hoop while also zipping all over the court on defense taking charges, disrupting passing lanes, and contesting shots. If you knew nothing about basketball but just watched the game as an objective observer you would immediately notice how actively engaged James was at both ends of the court. The opposite was true of James versus Boston and Dallas. By knowing what James looks like when he is highly energized we also know what it looks like when James has quit. To James' credit, after quitting in back to back playoffs he bounced back to win back to back championships, and he has won a total of four NBA titles. It is obvious that James is laser-focused on winning the first NBA Cup.
Williamson is muscular, nimble, and quick, but his big body too often has a small impact on winning. TNT's Shaquille O'Neal and Barkley did not hold back when speaking about Williamson after the game. O'Neal said that Williamson does not run hard, does not create easy baskets for himself, does not rebound well enough, and does not have "that look." O'Neal said that early in his career he had some of those same issues, but that after people pulled him aside to point out those deficiencies he worked on them.
Barkley agreed with O'Neal's critiques, and he added that Williamson should be the Pelicans' best player, not their third best player behind Ingram and McCollum. Barkley said that Williamson should be averaging 11-12 rpg (Williamson is averaging 5.8 rpg this season, and he has never averaged more than 7.2 rpg in a season), that he does not run the court well, and that he needs to get in better shape.
I declared a few months ago that the Pelicans will never win big with Williamson as their franchise cornerstone, citing many of the points that Barkley and O'Neal just made.
The Lakers outscored the Pelicans 38-24 in the second quarter and 43-17 in the third quarter. That adds up to 81-41 for 24 minutes, during which time Williamson had seven points and no rebounds. He is obviously not the only Pelican who quit, but he is the team's most physically gifted athlete and he was a number one overall draft pick, so what he does sets the tone, much like whatever James does sets the tone for the Lakers.
After the game, Williamson admitted that he needs to be more aggressive. The problem--as Barkley noted--is that Williamson is not a rookie or a second year player; he is a five year veteran, so--even though he missed one season due to injury and has missed a ton of other games due to injury--he has been in and around the league long enough to know better and to develop the right mentality.
I know that I just criticized James for not having the right mentality at times during 2010 and 2011, which were his seventh and eighth seasons, but by that time he had already led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals and he had been a dominant playoff performer. James knew the required mentality and he had often displayed it, but he just fell short for whatever reason on a couple occasions. In contrast, Williamson has yet to demonstrate that he has figured it out or that he ever will figure it out.
While the Pelicans lick their wounds, the Lakers are one win away from capturing the inaugural NBA Cup. My NBA Cup predictions have not been anything to write home about, but I was right about the Lakers making it to the championship game and I feel very good about my prediction that the Lakers are going to win the championship game. I am not sure if James and Davis will stay healthy enough to win another NBA title, but the NBA Cup is just 48 minutes away from their grasp, so that goal is quite obtainable--and it is obviously very important to James.
The Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 106-103 to reach the NBA Cup Semifinals, while in the other Western Conference bracket the Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 127-117. The Lakers will play the Pacers in Saturday night's NBA Cup Championship game. The Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-119 earlier on Thursday to punch their NBA Cup Championship game ticket.
Both NBA Cup Semifinal games had a playoff atmosphere/vibe. It was great to see Julius Erving sitting in the front row of the second game. It is good for the sport when the legends of the game are front and center. Erving's teams reached the pro basketball equivalent of the "Final Four" (the Division Finals or Conference Finals) 10 times in his 16 seasons as he won three championships and two Finals MVPs, so there is no doubt that he would have put up some memorable NBA Cup performances if that event had existed during his career.